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So I haven't seen this one out there yet so I figured I'd give it a shot to see what some others think. I realize these two schools are quite different. I'm looking to get into Brand Management for consumer products (preferably food). I realize Duke is more known for marketing, but I eventually want to end up in either NY, CT, or NJ. In terms of fit, I felt a real connection with Duke, not so much so with Columbia. But at the same time, I am from NYC and my entire family/significant other are here, so that does give some points to Columbia. Given Columbia's proximity to my family and reputation, I'm leaning towards Columbia. But I'm concerned that my opportunities to get into marketing will be greater at Duke. I've looked at the employment reports and it seems to me that Duke sends more people to marketing/CPG, but at the same time, most of the new york area companies have hired columbia grads.

Does anybody have any thoughts? Although fit is important to me, I think I could be happy at both schools, though I think for my personal life it would be a lot easier to go to Columbia. I'm really most concerned about which school will be best for my career in terms of getting into marketing/brand management.

So I haven't seen this one out there yet so I figured I'd give it a shot to see what some others think. I realize these two schools are quite different. I'm looking to get into Brand Management for consumer products (preferably food). I realize Duke is more known for marketing, but I eventually want to end up in either NY, CT, or NJ. In terms of fit, I felt a real connection with Duke, not so much so with Columbia. But at the same time, I am from NYC and my entire family/significant other are here, so that does give some points to Columbia. Given Columbia's proximity to my family and reputation, I'm leaning towards Columbia. But I'm concerned that my opportunities to get into marketing will be greater at Duke. I've looked at the employment reports and it seems to me that Duke sends more people to marketing/CPG, but at the same time, most of the new york area companies have hired columbia grads.

Does anybody have any thoughts? Although fit is important to me, I think I could be happy at both schools, though I think for my personal life it would be a lot easier to go to Columbia. I'm really most concerned about which school will be best for my career in terms of getting into marketing/brand management.

Would appreciate any help! I only have 2.5 weeks to decide!

1) Don't read too far into specialty rankings. Yes, Duke is ranked #3 in US News' specialty rankings for marketing, but what does that really mean? In my mind, when it comes to marketing, it's Kellogg and everyone else.

2) You'll need to decide what's more important: School fit or your personal life, because I think that's what it boils down to. You might be the first person on this forum who's ever wondered if Duke should be picked over CBS for better career opportunities.

As someone who's interested in brand management and wants to end up in NYC, I'll say you should have no problem making contact with companies like Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Pepsi Co, Reckitt-Bensicker, etc. Companies like American Express hire brand managers too.

Congrats on the admits - you'll be fine wherever you land career-wise. Do what'll make you happy. _________________

As others have said, you'll be in a great place regardless of where you attend -- good luck with your choice and thank you for posting this thread. I'll be in a similar situation soon and am also interested to hear others' opinions about this

Thanks for the opinions guys, appreciate your thoughts! Yes, I've reached out to the marketing club and will be speaking with someone who's recruiting for brand management shortly. I think that will definitely be helpful. It's hard to really get a sense just from reading the employment reports since they only list which companies have hired, not which recruit. So hopefully some one in the marketing club or career management center can help. Unfortunately, I can't go to Columbia's admitted students weekend so that's a bummer as that would really let me get a much better feel for the school.

You'll be able to get into marketing in NY either way (Fuqua has NYC/tristate treks) The question is, be close to family, and continue your same life only replacing work with school, or take a break from real life for a few years, and focus mostly on your MBA. Only you can answer that.

Figured I would post here what I ended up choosing in case anyone ever comes across this in the future!

Decided to go with Columbia. I think I would have had great opportunities at both schools and been able to do well at both. I'm sad not to go to Duke, I really get a great vibe from the school. But at the end of the day I want to end up in NYC so having Columbia's huge network and strong reputation in the area I think will be good for me. In addition, I like the possibility of being able to do a part time internship during the school year which could potentially help me get a job down the road. It also is just much easier for my personal life. So while I am sad not to go to Duke, I felt like I would have regretted not going to Columbia. No regrets!

Figured I would post here what I ended up choosing in case anyone ever comes across this in the future!

Decided to go with Columbia. I think I would have had great opportunities at both schools and been able to do well at both. I'm sad not to go to Duke, I really get a great vibe from the school. But at the end of the day I want to end up in NYC so having Columbia's huge network and strong reputation in the area I think will be good for me. In addition, I like the possibility of being able to do a part time internship during the school year which could potentially help me get a job down the road. It also is just much easier for my personal life. So while I am sad not to go to Duke, I felt like I would have regretted not going to Columbia. No regrets!

Figured I would post here what I ended up choosing in case anyone ever comes across this in the future!

Decided to go with Columbia. I think I would have had great opportunities at both schools and been able to do well at both. I'm sad not to go to Duke, I really get a great vibe from the school. But at the end of the day I want to end up in NYC so having Columbia's huge network and strong reputation in the area I think will be good for me. In addition, I like the possibility of being able to do a part time internship during the school year which could potentially help me get a job down the road. It also is just much easier for my personal life. So while I am sad not to go to Duke, I felt like I would have regretted not going to Columbia. No regrets!

Congrats, and good luck at Columbia! You really couldn't go wrong. Hopefully I'll run into you in the future(looking for Brand Management in the Northeast too).

Figured I would post here what I ended up choosing in case anyone ever comes across this in the future!

Decided to go with Columbia. I think I would have had great opportunities at both schools and been able to do well at both. I'm sad not to go to Duke, I really get a great vibe from the school. But at the end of the day I want to end up in NYC so having Columbia's huge network and strong reputation in the area I think will be good for me. In addition, I like the possibility of being able to do a part time internship during the school year which could potentially help me get a job down the road. It also is just much easier for my personal life. So while I am sad not to go to Duke, I felt like I would have regretted not going to Columbia. No regrets!

Thanks guys appreciate all the help and well wishes! Definitely hope to run into you all, would be quite comical to make the gmatclub connection years down the road. Everytime I go to an school function I try to subtly drop the "oh so do any of you do the online forum things, like gmatclub?" I am always met w confused faces and "no" responses. Ha!

I think you made the right choice. Columbia does host the BRITE conference which sounds like an awesome marketing event and I see a wide range of employers that would hire brand managers on their employment report (Unilever, AMEX, L'Oreal, Kraft, etc).

I am also a marketing guy and Columbia/Kellogg are my top choices right now. Hopefully I'm lucky enough to have to make that decision!